Sed Rate, ANA Test and Knee Procedure Day!

First, a few things to record...

Spoke to Dr. Sgarlat yesterday. Mia's sed rate is very high right now - 60, to be exact. When she was initially diagnosed, she was at 40. Then, a year later, we were able to get her down to 15 (normal). She was not happy with how high it currently is.

When we were at Dr. Foster's office on Tuesday, Dr. Hinkle as us about her ANA test results. So, I checked with Dr. Sgarlat on that, too. She said that Mia tested positive for ANA, indicating to them that, besides her joints, there is some other inflammation going on in her body.

What is an ANA test, you might ask?
It is an antinuclear antibody (ANA) test. The ANA is a screening test. It is a protein which is made by the white blood cells. The ANA test is the most common test to be positive in children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. It is often called the "lupus" test. However, in children it is more common for patients with a positive ANA to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, since lupus is uncommon in young children. The ANA test is positive in about 2/3 of children with pauciarticular JRA Type I and about 1/3 (or more) of children with polyarticular JRA. Also, the ANA is a marker for patients at higher risk for development of eye inflammation.

With that said, we will continue to take Mia to see Dr. Foster every three months to be checked for uveitis.

Moving on...KNEE PROCEDURE DAY!

Dr. Sgarlat and Dr. Miller will be doing the procedure on Mia's knee. Provided the fluid is clear and not bloody, they will extract the fluid in her knee and inject the steriod (aristropan) directly into the joint. Oh yeah...about that crazy steroid hunt I have been on! After calling several pharmacies and about ready to rip my hair out, I spoke with Dr. Lopez, explaining that we were having a hard time finding it and he said to just bring her in and to not worry about it. I sure do hope they have enough for the procedure!

So, no breakfast or liquids for Mia this morning. We will be heading into Boston soon...hopefully traffic isn't as bad as it was on Tuesday! She has to be there at 9:30 a.m. and the procedure is at 10:30 a.m. Mia's favorite little lamb, "Baa," will be joining us today, for comfort before and after the procedure. Theu told us it would be helpful to her for us to bring something familiar...so, "Baa" it is! :)


I will write more later on how everything went. "Thank you" to our family (near and far) for your prayers. We ask that you stand with us today and pray for Mia. And, "thank you" to all the JRA moms who have emailed me or commented on my blog. Your words of encouragement and prayers have meant a lot these past few days.